Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

U.S. Prepares for Casualties in Africa

The extrication of U.S. Special Forces injured in African military ventures soon will provide contractors with an additional revenue stream, now that the Obama administration plans to keep such vendors on stand-by, 24/7, for cross-continent airborne mobilization.

While the Pentagon’s reliance on private vendors to support international military operations is nothing new, plans to station such providers specific to such a large swath of Africa does deviate from prior procurement actions.

The Trans-Sahara Short Take-Off and Landing Airlift Support initiative will rely on outside assistance in the event that soldiers of U.S. Special Operations Command-Africa sustain traumatic medical emergencies, thereby requiring urgent transportation out of hostile zones.

Indeed, SOCOM-Africa places such urgency on its anticipated use of such Casualty Evacuation, or CASEVAC, services that, at a minimum, contractors must be capable of launching an airborne response with only a three hour notice.

The selected vendor likewise must possess the ability to be placed on heightened response and “be airborne within one hour of notification,” according a revised Performance Work Statement released April 16 that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research.

Despite this urgency, the vendor securing that contract largely will engage in cargo- and personnel airlift activities, plus a limited number of air-drop missions.

The “most likely” locations for such operations are Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia, according to the U.S. Transportation Command solicitation.

Kenya, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda also fall within the Primary Operating Area, or POA, of this endeavor, the USTRANSCOM document says.

SOCOM-Africa will enable this expedited response-capability by stationing the contractor in Burkina Faso, a landlocked West African nation, it says.

A search of prior Tactical Combat Casualty Care and CASEVAC solicitations available via the FedBizOpps system shows that USSOCOM and other Department of Defense units typically and primarily seek only training and equipment.

Rather than soliciting continent-wide provision of emergency medical and flight assistance, those contracting actions generally have sought assistance to enable combatant commands to provide themselves with such medical assistance.

One USSOCOM contracting action representative of the government’s acquisition of CASEVAC “kits” and trauma-management training, for example, described a critical need for Special Operations combat forces to obtain new techniques and technology in support of “ongoing operations worldwide.”

Another Special Ops solicitation from late last year revealed a $40 million, two-year contract extension awarded to Tribalco, LLC, a Bethesda, Maryland-based maker of CASEVAC and other “soldier-survival” equipment.

USTRANSCOM did not disclose an estimated cost of the Africa-centric CASEVAC procurement.

In other U.S. military procurement actions specific to Africa:

• The Defense Logistics Agency on April 12 issued a request for bids to provide the U.S. Air Force with 547,500 gallons of No. 2 diesel fuel “for ongoing deliveries to Niamey Airport, Niger, (Africa).”
• The U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, or NAVFAC, announced it intends to spend up to $25 million for power plant upgrades at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti (CLDJ), Africa; however, despite acknowledging in an earlier document the estimated cost of the Caterpillar generators, a partly redacted no-bid Justification & Approval document blacked out the final award amount. It offered no explanation for the redaction .
• NAVFAC additionally began soliciting bids to build a cold-storage food warehouse and a separate galley to store P-218 anti-malarial drug reserves, representing another potential $25 million contracting endeavor at CLDJ.
• NAVFAC on April 12 revealed that it awarded a $33 million contract to Kellogg, Brown and Root to “perform base operating services at CLDJ and occasionally other locations within Africa.” Despite announcing the KBR contract this month, the Navy unit actually awarded it in December, the document shows.

This article originally appeared via WND April 28. Under prior agreement, rights have reverted back to the author, Steve Peacock.

WND: U.S. Prepares for Casualties in Africa

My latest from WND:

The extrication of U.S. Special Forces injured in African military ventures soon will provide contractors with an additional revenue stream, now that the Obama administration plans to keep such vendors on stand-by, 24/7, for cross-continent airborne mobilization.

While the Pentagon’s reliance on private vendors to support international military operations is nothing new, plans to station such providers specific to such a large swath of Africa does deviate from prior procurement actions.

The Trans-Sahara Short Take-Off and Landing Airlift Support initiative will rely on outside assistance in the event that soldiers of U.S. Special Operations Command-Africa sustain traumatic medical emergencies, thereby requiring urgent transportation out of hostile zones.

Read more at WND.com...

U.S. to Help Boost Business Competitiveness -- In Ethiopia

A $20 million contract to spark "private sector competitiveness" in Ethiopia has been awarded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor reported earlier this year, the agency's Finance and Business Services (FaBS) Project seeks to increase Ethiopian industry's access to financing in order to drive "sustainable economic growth"while reducing poverty  (Monitor, April 26, 2012).

CARANA Corp., an Arlington, Virginia-based consulting company, will carry out the project for USAID over the next five years. CARANA in October separately secured a $12 million USAID contract to execute the Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport (NEXTT) program, whose goal "is to support the Nigerian government's efforts to expand trade domestically... and improve its efficiency so that trade, particularly in agricultural products, can provide inclusive economic growth and development of Nigeria."

Source document: Contract award #AID-663-C-13-00001

FOR MORE REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S AFRICA PAGE AND ETHIOPIA PAGE.

FOR FURTHER REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

USAID Seeks to Expand Nigerian Trade, Promote Economic Growth (NEWS BRIEFS)

The following news briefs involve some recent procurement actions of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID awarded an $11.8 million contract to the Arlington, Virginia-based CARANA Corporation to carry out the Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport, or NEXTT, Program, which seeks to expand domestic trade and to improve the Nigerian government’s efficiency “so that trade, particularly in agricultural products, can provide inclusive economic growth and development of Nigeria.” (Contract Award #AID-620-C-13-00002) (Solicitation #SOL-620-12-000001)

Deloitte Consulting LLP secured a contract capped at $15 million to provide service in USAID’s Catalyzing Clean Energy in Bangladesh, or CCEB, project. Deloitte will help “support energy sector development for energy security, economic growth, and climate change mitigation” over the next five years. Deloitte specifically will provide training to the Bangladesh Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and other institutions to develop and implement the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, or BCCSAP. (Contract award #AID-388-C-13-00001) (Solicitation #SOL-388-12-000006).

USAID awarded a $6.8 million contract to Kimetrica, a Nairobi, Kenya- and Boulder, Colorado-based company, to provide project-management services in the Livelihoods Integration Unit – Enhancing Livelihoods Application (LIU-ELA) Project, which seeks to analyze food security issues in Ethiopia. (Contract Award #AID-663-C-12-00004) (Solicitation #RFP-663-12-00001).

PatriotUpdate.com: U.S. taxpayers foot bill for Ethiopian footwear push

U.S. taxpayers foot bill for Ethiopian footwear push

By Steve Peacock, PatriotUpdate.com, Sept. 15, 2012

_{Although the mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is to create programs that “improve the health of the Nation,” the Obama Administration apparently is taking liberties with which nation the NIH should be helping. Indeed, a project aimed at influencing parental decision making—attempted via songs, stories, and posters encouraging “consistent shoe wearing” in Ethiopia—reveals the notion of “the Nation” is open to interpretation.}

_{Read more at PatriotUpdate.com...}

USAID Providing Millions of Textbooks to Ethiopia

By Steve Peacock

Five-and-a-half million textbooks destined for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders in Ethiopia are being provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which today revealed that it awarded a $5.9 million contract to a South African company for the material. Kadimah Education, an affiliate of the Cape Town-based Kadimah Trading Corporation, within 90 days must deliver the books -- whose covers and inside jackets are to be adorned with the Ethiopian flag as well as the logos of USAID and AAMU (Alabama A&M University). AAMU in 2009 received a separate $13 million grant for an Ethiopian literacy project, which the university touted at the time as "part of USAID's broader $600 million Africa Education Initiative."

Source document: Contract award #AID-663-C-12-00010.

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S AFRICA PAGE and ETHIOPIA PAGE.

FOR FURTHER COVERAGE OF THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR'S EDUCATION PAGE.

Obama Administration Launching Business Competitiveness Project

Improving "private sector competitiveness" as well as increasing access to financing will help drive "sustainable economic growth" while reducing poverty, according to the Obama Administration. Consequently, it is launching the Finance and Business Services (FaBS) Project to achieve such goals -- in Ethiopia.

The U.S. must step in to help because of the global economic downturn and the restrictive economic policies enacted in response to those changes, according to Solicitation #SOL-663-12-000013:

Despite impressive growth over the past 5-7 years, Ethiopia’s private sector continues to struggle as a result of an inefficient business climate as well as a number of firm/industry bottlenecks.  Particularly during the past two years, with the economy showing strains associated with the global downturn, escalation of prices for major import products and resultant restrictive monetary policy by government designed to help contain the impact of the global crisis and associated inflation, the prospects for private sector growth appear to have stalled according to some, or to have diminished according to others.  With credit growth continuing to decline, an already challenged business environment has become even more challenging during the past couple of years.

The U.S. Agency for International Development will carry out the 2-5-year program with private contractor assistance at an estimated cost -- if all options are exercised -- of $22 million.

USAID to Procure English Textbooks for Ethiopia

The printing of English textbooks for Ethiopian 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders is the latest project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), but the scope of the plan as of this writing has not been revealed. Though USAID announced today via the FedBizzOpps database that it intends to award contracts for the endeavor, the Request for Quotations currently is inaccessible, as the link to the RFQ as of 12:45 p.m. EST resulted in a "Page Not Found" message. U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor will post that information when if and when it is made public. (#SOL-663-12-000011)

This particular project is a contracting action distinct from a five-year USAID/Ethiopia project that the Monitor reported last year (See Monitor, July 20, 2011). Please also note that links embedded in that previous article have since been updated to reflect FedBizOpps modifications to those links.

 

FOR MORE REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S AFRICA PAGE AND ETHIOPIA PAGE.

FOR FURTHER REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR'S EDUCATION PAGE.
 

 

Obama to the Rescue for [Non-U.S.] Importers/Exporters

Struggling U.S. businesses may be curious to know that the Obama Administration wants to help reduce “the cost and time of exporting/importing goods” in order to improve “the overall trade environment.”  Improvements, that is, in Ethiopia.

The implementation of what is known as the Trade and Customs Enhancement Reform Project, or TraCER, will be carried out via a five-year $19 million contract, which the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) intends to award to an as-to-be-determined vendor.

The specific goals of TraCER are to:

• Create a trade center that links academia, the private sector, and the public sector;
• Facilitate the streamlining of customs processes;
• Introduce information, communications, and technology platforms to support customs processes;
• Develop the capacity of a core team of Government of Ethiopia (GOE) staff to participate in trade negotiations;
• Educate the private sector on international standards and best practices;
• Elevate the profile of Ethiopian products in international markets; and
• Establish a framework for the promotion of trade corridors with neighboring countries.

Corollary objectives of TraCER include assisting the GOE in becoming a World Trade Organization member as well as enhancing “the quality of public-private dialogue” across Ethiopia, USAID said in a planning document dated Oct. 20.

Source Document: Solicitation #SOL-663-11-000008.

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S AFRICA PAGE AND ETHIOPIA PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

Details on U.S.-Funded Ethiopian Office-Upgrade Project Forthcoming

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today revealed that during the first week of September it will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for its Ethiopian Ministry of Education headquarters-refurbishment project. As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor previously reported (Aug. 19), USAID is assisting the Ministry in improving conditions for workers, who would get modern office furniture, a new kitchen, and other improvements to their work environment.